What we’re doing to improve accessibility

There are lots of staff at the OU working together to improve accessibility and many initiatives underway. This helps us to meet and respond to the changing digital requirements of our students and staff, deliver accessible learning, and design and develop digital spaces which are as accessible as possible.

The Open University is committed to accessibility and demonstrates this in a number of ways.

Our Accessibility Sponsorship Model

We have a shared sponsorship model at the OU which is designed to reflect the scale, complexity, and importance of this work. The model helps us to ensure that accessibility is fully aligned with our mission and values and focus on what matters most to our students and staff.

The model recognises that accessibility spans multiple parts of the University, and benefits from focused sponsorship in each space:

Digital accessibility – led by Emma Stace.
Staff-focused accessibility – led by Al Laville.
Student-focused accessibility – led jointly by Ian Pickup and Al Laville.

Accessibility work at the OU is wide-ranging and already happening across many teams and initiatives. The sponsorship model helps with:

Clearer routes for raising issues and escalating risks, with stronger accountability through clear points of leadership and escalation.
More focused conversations and decision-making, helping to bring greater clarity to who is leading and supporting different areas.
Stronger visibility of accessibility work and impact, giving greater confidence that accessibility is represented at the highest levels.
Better alignment of accessibility with strategy and day-to-day work, reducing duplication and supporting more joined-up ways of working.

Digital Governance Framework

As part of our Digital Governance Framework, The OU has an approved Digital Accessibility standard which is available to all staff members. The standard sets WCAG 2.2 AA as a benchmark and aligns with our legal obligation under the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. As part of the Digital Governance Framework, staff are provided with resources and guidance to ensure they are able to achieve this standard and are following best practice.

As we build new websites and digital services, we strive to ensure that they are accessible and comply with the current legislation. We also review and audit older sites to identify what changes we need to make to improve accessibility.

Accessibility and Usability Evaluation team

The OU website development process has stages that test the usability and accessibility of new and updated platforms, activities and services against WCAG 2.2 AA. Our internal Accessibility and Usability Evaluation team (AUE) helps to offer guidance in this area and to ensure that digital accessibility is embedded in the design and development process for developers and content creators. The team also acts as a centre of expertise for accessibility at the OU, and offers guidance, training, and networking opportunities for OU staff.

Digital Accessibility Compliance group

This group is made up of representatives from a range of faculties and professional services from across the university. The purpose of this group is to ensure digital accessibility compliance is being adhered to across the digital estate, to assist and support the development of a clear and consistent approach to embedding digital accessibility compliance and to foster a supportive community to share good practice and lessons learned.

Securing Greater Accessibility (SeGA)

Securing Greater Accessibility (SeGA) was set up in 2010 as a university-wide initiative to promote accessibility and inclusive practice and support students and staff. SeGA offers training and guidance in accessibility in teaching and learning and oversees forums and activities for a wider community of practice and research.

Accessibility champions

The AUE team runs a network of over 100 accessibility champions from around the OU, who act as points of contact on accessibility queries within their respective departments.

Accessibility training

Staff at The Open University are offered on-demand accessibility training in a variety of topics to support them to carry out their roles. This will be complemented in the future by the introduction of bespoke training in accessibility for all staff to complete in order to further embed accessibility good practice.

Silktide

The Open University uses the digital tool Silktide to monitor website quality, accessibility, and compliance across the public-facing parts of the web estate. Staff are offered training for how to use the automated outputs of the tool to identify defects and areas of development and integrate this into web estate management effectively.

Disability support

The Open University aims to make studying as accessible as possible and a range of adjustments and support are available. A well-established disability support team provides guidance for students and arranges for students to have support when accessing digital content online or alternatively, access to a variety of formats. A wealth of resources for information and guidance in enabling students to study as effectively as possible in the digital environment are available via the help centre.

The Open University Library

The Open University Library provides wide-ranging support to students with disabilities and specific requirements. As well as working with students directly to offer guidance in accessible resources, the Open University Library staff work with publishers to help improve the accessibility of their products.